Winter's Eve
by blue parasol
Summary: He was too far gone when she met him that night, She was already beyond salvation when he reached her. They were actors in a play written by fate, making them do the sacrifices meant for a good show. In the end, it was all nothing but a test of wills.


Disclaimer: Fairy Tail and all its characters are owned by **Hiro Mashima**

* * *

The sky was a vibrant blue, the same color of his eyes, she noted as she sat on an empty bench situated under the shade of a majestic beech tree. For almost an hour, she had been patiently waiting for her friend while watching the kids a few meters away from her spot do somersaults, and stumble an awful lot of times than their parents would like them to. She sighed as the wind started to pick up that made skirts and dresses fly everywhere. She contemplated whether on leaving her companion behind or staying for a couple of minutes more. She decided to choose the latter and sat still for a while longer.

Still, there was no sign of his arrival and this had made the woman irked. Losing the last ounce of her patience, she stood up and started to walk away when a man suddenly intercepted her departure. Warily, she turned around and saw the person who had made her wait for so long. He was not in his best, she remarked. His face was abnormally blanched and that his breathing was much labored than normal. Hugging her coat tighter to herself, she watched him as he tried to compose himself in front of her.

"What happened to you? I was worried that something bad came up." She exclaimed, the anxiety and aggravation poorly masked by the gentleness of her voice. Not that she was trying to sugarcoat her irritation at his lateness.

"Well, I uh, actually got into a car accident." He informed her sheepishly, well aware that she was staring at him with disbelief.

She gaped at the man in front of her, glad and relieved that he was well despite of the news he had just delivered. Without a second thought, she drew him into her arms and locked him in a tight embrace. She didn't bother if she was grasping him too tight for comfort because all she can think about is the man that she's holding. She can feel his heartbeat pounding softly against his chest in contrast to her own maddening beats. Their heartbeats created a rhythm that she can listen to every night until she falls asleep and wake up to every morning thereafter. In a muffled voice she expressed her worry for him and harries the importance of his safety to her. The man in question nodded in an assertive manner and placed a kiss at the crown of her head. He pulled her tighter against his chest and breathed in the scent that he has always associated with her.

He finally let her go for a brief moment so as to hold her at arm's length. She lifted her face to look up at him and felt something was amiss in his appearance. Disregarding the thought away, she stared into his blue eyes and waited. He started to fidget with the stare that she's giving him. It was evident that she was still unhappy of his tardiness and that she's expecting him to make up for it. Notwithstanding it he smiled knowingly to himself, proud that he came prepared.

He reached for his pocket and took out a small box, wrapping it tightly with his fingers. Slowly, he knelt down onto one knee and stared steadily into her hazel eyes conveying the unspoken words that only the two of them can understand. He went out of his way just to see the fulfillment of this event that he had planned for many sleepless nights. And though he had practiced numerous times, too, he still got nervous when she didn't move or made any sound. Like the turning of a light, her lips broke into the wide grin that he had always adored ever since their first meeting. He smiled with pure bliss for her reaction was enough to answer the question he was raring to pronounce. For him, her smile was sufficient to quell the growing unease in his heart.

She was astounded, shocked, surprised, flabbergasted, she can put every synonym that she can think of, but the happiness she felt then was so potent she believed it would swallow her whole. He was not able to say the words 'Will you marry me' for the reason that she, for the second time, had him wrapped into her tight hold. She exclaimed a stream of Yes's and I will's that the very few people in the park were starting to look at her in bewilderment, muttering their comments to themselves. She deliberately let him go and watched as his lips sported a soft smile to which she returned with her own.

Trembling with every inch he closes, he took her small hand in his and slipped the ring into her pale finger, the light being reflected on the gem embellishing the little piece of gold ring. The girl admired her hand before turning to him, thinking that it rests perfectly on her fingers. Despite the cold air, she felt the blush heating her cheeks, pondering how the world was actually smaller than she thought, smaller and it was right in front of her.

"Thank you." She said before she leaned in to him and closed the gap that separated their lips. Too soon and their kiss turned fiery and passionate, leaving her gasping and her mind buzzing; but it took only a sliver of time before it started to feel numbingly cold, for little did she know her joy was only short lived.

Wondering what had caused the change she leaned back. It was then that her blood ran cold and that a chill ran down her spine. She had finally noticed what was wrong since he came up to her. She looked down, only to see that his feet were slightly off the ground, and that his eyes had turned from a clear blue to a dull cold gray. The girl staggered backwards, shock written all over her face. It was at that moment that she took the liberty to study his appearance; his clothes were ripped, bloodied and dirty. His skin was colder, and his complexion was shades paler. She took it all in, and despite the terror that it made her feel; she couldn't bring herself to run away; because after all, his face wasn't contorted into a grimace but was rather formed into a sad smile.

He saw the look of dread crossed her features. He wanted to do something, anything to erase the pain that she's feeling. He knew it was too late, and laughed deridingly to himself when he realized that he had been twice unpunctual that day, much less still on his supposedly last. He was pulled away from his thoughts when he heard a whimper. He whipped his head to look at her face, her beautiful face that is being disfigured by that wounded expression. He touched her cheek with his one hand and tried to dispel the lines of worry on her face, this however, had only made her cry more.

At that instant, he was simultaneously feeling exultant and miserable. He was glad that she didn't run away from him and had instead stayed, but he was sad, too, that their supposed blissful moment was marred by an unexpected twist of fate. With one last resolve, he took her lips into his letting the moment ingrain itself into his final memories.

She held him, clutched at him, grappled when he started to fade away but her hands only caught the cold autumn breeze. She watched as he gave her his final smile, and listened still when he whispered to her his last words.

"I love you." Is what he said. She was proven wrong when she thought the world can't be anymore cruel to her and she cursed bitterly at it. Thoughts of him flooded her mind, from their very first day, their first kiss, the first time he held her hand, the first time he called her by her name, the time when he watched over her while she was sick, the time when he promised in front of her parents' grave that he would stay with her, the time when he blurted out for everyone to hear that she was his; she thought of all the memories she had with him, up to the very last that they shared.

Falling to her knees she hugged herself, wallowing in the agony that had inched its way into her heart. It was then that the first snow fell on her lips, marking the start of winter. For a while she sat there, staring into space, letting her mind be emptied of all thoughts that weren't concerning him. She had lost all hope, had lost the reason to fight through life, had the lost the person who was supposed to fight by her side; or so she thought.

She couldn't help but let a small smile escape from her lips for his tenacity. She admired that how up until his demise he tried to give her the present that she knew he had prepared conscientiously. It must have been his greatest wish to marry me, she thought. She can never be sure of him, she supposed, because whenever she thought that she can't love him anymore, he always proved to her that she still can. And this day was no exception.

In the now empty park, a deafening sound was heard, literally ringing into her ears. She was resolute that she wouldn't pick up her phone but decided against it when she saw the name on the caller id. There was only silence when she listened to the message. Not wasting anytime, she stood up on shaky legs and held on to the ring he gave her. She started to walk with a stagger like a drunken old man but for every each of her steps was fueled by a strong desire and determination to reach the one place where she should be. Her strides evened out and before long she was running like she had never ran in her life. She ran and ran, for how long she didn't know, for how far she didn't mind for she was only thinking of one thing: and that is to be by his side.

She reached the place of the accident and saw the police line keeping the spectators out. She pushed herself through and ignored the protests she heard from the people. She approached a policewoman holding a shivering cat wrapped in a blanket. She excused herself and then asked the woman of what had happened on the scene. The story that she heard from the officer made her heart squeeze on in itself. He's really too kind for his own good even if he tried to hide it, she thought.

She took the shivering cat into her arms and stared into its eyes. She stared at it dispassionately, stating in her mind that he had saved this helpless creature at his own peril. The cat then suddenly started to purr into her neck; reminding her of how he always puts his head on the same spot. She stood still for a moment, silent rivulet of tears flowed from her eyes towards the small cat's fur. Knowing him all too well, she believed that he'd be like an overexcited child at the thought of them adopting the destitute kitten into their home if he had been still alive. If he had…and with that thought, her already shattered heart was torn again into billions of fragments more.

She was too lost, too swallowed up in the dark, her consciousness close to oblivion when she was suddenly forcefully yanked back to reality by the faint whispering she heard behind her back. Her eyes widened with what she had caught, her mind disbelieving yet purposefully hopeful. At that moment she finally understood why the stars shine beautifully at night: the stars that represented her tainted hope in a sky of desolation.

The policewoman who had talked to the distraught young lady watched her break down like a fragile glass. The officer can sympathize what the woman was going through, and had graciously offered to give her a lift to her destination. She can't read the emotions dancing in her eyes; or rather she couldn't bring herself to read it because she was afraid of the overwhelming agony it held. It was so clouded, deep and dark that she thought she'll never be able to get out of it alive, much less fathom it even if it was just to test the waters of its surface. The older woman can only hope for a light to purify the darkness that stains it.

When she pulled the car in front of a tall stately edifice, the girl muttered a silent gratitude before sprinting off away from the police car and away from her. She watched her disappear in the sliding doors before she turned up the engine and drove back to the scene of the accident. With the most she can give, she offered a fervent prayer for the sake of the two victims caught up in a twisted plot of reality.

* * *

On the same bench that she had sat on that fateful day, she once again watched as children far away from her stumble and roll along the cool green grass. She watched as their hair shimmered under the sun and their little hands swayed excitedly into the air. It was the same as that day, she noted, but there was a difference between the two, because now she wasn't alone anymore. She knows that there is still a smear of the shadows that once poisoned her view, but it was a sliver that she purposefully held onto. To her though, it was a battle scar from a war that she had gained victory over.

He was similar to that fateful day caught in between autumn and winter; only that he wasn't amidst the season, he was instead in between life and death. He had held on to life with on a spider's web, so close to snapping that little thread, but when he saw her fight desperately even if she was wrapped in dark shadows; he couldn't make himself give up. He fought with her for her sake, and it was enough motivation for him to pull through against the odds.

He turned to glance at her face and was astounded of how she never failed to take his breath away. Them being together was a miracle that can never compare to his survival. The day when he gained his consciousness, he can only note the happiness filling in her eyes. The same night he recounted to her a dream that he had. She listened to him expectantly and when she brushed her hand through his hair was only then that he noticed the ring that he was supposed to give to her and realized that it wasn't actually a dream but a rather a part of his surreal reality. He asked her the words that was left unexpressed that day and she countered it by stating to him the obvious, she said,

"I told you already, I will. Isn't the ring on my finger proof enough?" Her eyes twinkling in the dark, like the stars that she had so loved. Pulling away from his memories, he smiled at the thought and proceeded to contently watch her.

The silence between them was pregnant, but it was a silence that neither of them resented. She leaned her head on his shoulder, inhaling his clean scent, feeling his warmth radiate to her, having him with her; extremely grateful that she was given another chance to experience it. She had almost lost him once, and she doesn't plan on losing him a second time, or anytime at that.

For a while they stayed in that position, just holding on to each other, relishing in the moment that they had taken back from death's grasp. He let the past slip away from his mind and decided to live in the present that they were in.

Letting his happy-go-luck personality get the better of him, he lifted her face and placed a playful kiss on her lips, aware that her breath hitched in her throat because of its unexpectedness. All too abruptly though before he can lose himself into her, he felt her shift and was left alone on the bench, with the said girl giggling in front of him.

"You look funny kissing the air." She teased while she made kissy noises at him. He just smirked at her and decided to play her game. He checked his cat, the cat that he saved that day, peacefully slumbering beside him. He patted the head of the feline that he had named Lector before he sprinted towards the girl who had already run far away from him.

"Come on, you slowpoke." She mocked at him as she twirled in her white summer dress, beckoning the said man to catch her.

"You'll be sorry you said that when I catch you." He threatened, lunging at the still giggling girl. He caught her by the waist and they fell on the grass with a soft thud, their eyes

"H-hey, what are you thinking?" She asked nervously as the man on top of her gave her a look of pure mischief. In a matter of few seconds, she was wriggling in his grasp as he tickled her sides notoriously, causing the girl to utter her surrender.

Her breath came in uneven as she stared at his blue eyes. He was heavily breathing just like her and the position they were in is inappropriate for a public place; but then again they didn't care. She pulled his head down to meet hers, letting her lips slide along his, feeling the current course through their veins.

He was too glad that he came back to her, too glad that he didn't let go and had given up hope. He kissed her more ardently, relishing on the time that was stolen from them. Breaking the kiss for air, he felt her arms tighten around his head, leaving his head propped up against her chest, his head rising along with her breathing.

"I love you." She whispered airily on his ear. His expression softening to her confession that he can never tire of hearing.

"I love you, too." He replied as he leaned in for another kiss to seal an unspoken covenant that he will never break, even if he have to go up against death once again and even if have to fight against time, he will never leave the girl he almost left behind.

"So then, what are we going to do to those two who had been watching us making out?" He asked her with a bemused expression.

Her eyebrows shot upwards with his statement. She turned her eyes to the direction of his gaze and was surprised to see two pairs of eyes wide with wonder, gaping at the scene that they had just witnessed. She chuckled and was reminded of how the two children resembled them so much. The young boy, with the same golden hair as the little girl was clutching on to the latter's hands quite tightly. The young girl did no less.

She stood up and went to kneel in front of them smiling as she did. "Hello, little one, is he your brother?" She asked as the younger girl blushed at her question.

"I'm not his sister, I'm his future wife." The child exclaimed indignantly much to the surprise of the young woman on her knees. She smiled at how she saw herself in the little girl and how the little boy's arrogant stance yet flushed face reminded her of him. She was taken aback when her companion knelt beside her and talked then to the little lad.

"Kid, be sure to never let go of that hand you're holding." He said then looked meaningfully at the little boy as he ruffled his head, much to the child's dismay. Thinking that he already said what he wanted to, he stood up swiftly, grabbed the hand of the woman beside him, and then purposefully dragged her in a daze away from the two astounded, fair-headed children.

She glanced at their clasped hand and sudden warmth enveloped her whole being. She felt so free, like she was flying with the spring wind tangling in her hair, the mirth that's welling inside her becoming harder to hold in. Somehow, she knew that they'll be able to pull things through, together that is.

"Hey, Sting," She called out to him, earning a quizzical expression from him she saw as curiosity surfaced on his visage.

She grinned widely. "Be sure to never let go of the hand you're holding." She ended with a flourish. He listened as her laughter, his favorite sound, rang sweet and vibrant across the clearing.

He matched her grin and said with as much conviction he could, "Don't worry, Lucy…"

"…I won't."

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**A/N:**

This is the very first fanfiction, or story for that matter, that I've ever written; so I apologize for all the mistakes I committed in this story. I'm really, really sorry. :(

By the way, the phrase "..._W__henever she thought that she can't love him anymore, he always proved to her that she still can.", _is a reference to the song **I** **Do** by the _awesome,_ **A Rocket To The Moon**.

Lastly, thank you to all who have given time to read this, thank you so much, I really appreciate it. :))))


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